Some places hold more than just memories — they tell a story.
My studio, built in 1906 and once my great-grandmother’s home — a place I used to run around and explore with my cousins decades later, has always been filled with history, character and love and it's served me well as a photographer for the past three years. In fact, it's done more than serve me well — it's given me the freedom and flexibility to do what I love in a space that means so much for the people that I love working with.
But last summer, I was determined to give this beautiful home the fresh, lively new look it deserved.
The old, pink house with metal railings is now a bright, welcoming space that reflects the warmth I want every session to capture. The fresh white exterior brightens the space and the new shutters and cedar posts from my grandfather brings out the charm and character from within. A refreshed and newly painted porch to feel like home — this space has always meant so much to me and I can't wait to share all of the exciting additions and updates with you. Take a look at where it all started. See all the changes through the years.
Among the newly updated exterior comes plenty of additions to the inside — once inside you'll notice dozens of new headbands, tiebacks and bonnets and newborn and toddler outfits galore as well as a plentiful array of swaddles for babies in every color imaginable and the most unique handmade women's dresses in a variety of colors and styles.
After moving the client closet from the main area to the spare room inside, that freed up space for more storage and props. Over the past three years, I've collected a handful of newer props for both babies and infants and I've found a renewed love for personalizing milestone sessions with bright and bold and colorful backdrops. Instead of just one or two colors to choose from, you'll be able to pick from several colors to make your child's sessions as unique to them as possible.
There's no need to worry about packing outfits for your child's special session either, I've taken care of cultivating an entire collection of outfits in different colors, patterns and styles for the session, that regularly get rotated to keep your session one of a kind.
After several years of using a faux wooden backdrop, I finally took the plunge and began the project of creating my own and with the help of my husband, we got the job done in a matter of days. With stained oak on one side and white paint on the other, it's the perfect combination and remains versatile and simple enough to remove when the seamless paper backdrop is in use.
The boho bedroom set has new wooden flooring and a brick wall has been added for extra charm to the lifestyle newborn sessions requested in that area and a beautiful daybed has been swapped as well.
The natural lit sunroom remains a favorite of mine. The original hardwood flooring paired with the sunshine diffused by the beautiful windows on all sides perfectly highlights that warm glow and radiant beauty of a newborn's first few days with their family while keeping their connection at the focus of the image. It's always been my goal to amplify the love and beauty and tiny details from within without distracting from that connection and this particular space in the studio does just that.
As I mentioned earlier, I've found so much joy in capturing milestones of children of all ages and love using colorful backdrops that bring out their personality so I've invested in several different colored options of seamless paper to accommodate for this. I've even added a second backdrop paper roller specifically for milestone sessions and love changing up the colors to coordinate with chosen outfits.
Every day, every session, every moment spent in this beautiful home is a reminder of how incredible God's plan is. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that this would be the studio I get to create in or that this would be the career path that I would be on after years in an elementary classroom. But with the help of family and friends and the support of a community, this little side gig turned into something so much more and for that, I am so incredibly thankful.
